June, 2017, St. Petersburg, Florida; the sight of the Florida Association of Hostage Negotiators Conference. Kicking off the conference on Sunday, June 4, 2017, was the National Council of Negotiation Associations (NCNA). This was a great time to see old friends and take the opportunity to make new ones.

The agenda this year included a presentation from FBI SA Michael Yansick. He informed us of what the FBI could offer in resources and training. He encouraged all to get involved with HOBAS (Hostage Barricade Reporting System) and to send in reports of hostage and barricade situations to establish data on types of callouts and record the lengths of such callouts. SA Yansick encouraged all to make contact with local FBI agents to get a feel for what the FBI can provide.

All associations represented talked about their conferences and qualities of speakers for the conferences. Case studies are always popular at conferences.

NCNA will meet in 2018 in Oskosh, Wisconsin at the fall conference. CAHN (California Assoc. of Hostage Negotiators) will host NCNA in 2019. The location will be decided on at a later date. The FBI is scheduled to host NCNA in 2020. Location to be determined. MAHN (Missouri Assoc. of Hostage Negotiators) will host NCNA in 2021.

President Paul Priegel from Crisis Negotiatiators of Oklahoma, (CNOK) presented their request to become members of NCNA. Members present unanimously voted to accept them into NCNA.

I was proud to report to NCNA members our association hosted a successful conference in Overland Park, KS this past May. Although we are a small association, the quality of speakers and type of training we promote are second to none. Being dedicated to provide training to negotiators will keep our association on the upswing. I am proud to serve this association as President and look forward to another successful year.